why 2006 will be a very interesting year for consumer technology

2006 seems like it will be a very innovative and exciting year for consumer technology. there appear to be several reasons to be watching the Science/Technology section of Google News. here are the things i'm most looking forward to:

1. the persistent rumors Apple is working on a TabletMac

my geekdom has reached new heights as i have now become a frequent reader of macrumors.com. they have been covering the news of Apple taking out several patents relating to touch-screen technology, and so on and so forth. there are some pictures of the patents taken out here as well as geek-out video of a "multi-input touch screen." these things look cool. they're probably pretty far away, though.

2. the origami project.

people who knew me a couple years ago may remember i was briefly but seriously obsessed w/ obtaining a tablet pc back when they first premiered. i never did/could, and from what i hear about most of the models that was for the best. i instead got a mac and have been very happy. but now, there is news of a pen based, fully-functioning PC, which is supposed to be wearable, always on, and several other perks. AND, it's supposed to cost less than $1000. (i've read different amounts on different sites, some stating $500 or less, some claiming it will be closer to $800 or $1000 or less.) the buzz has been building about this for a couple weeks now, and Microsoft is likely slotted to premier this new technology at CeBit next week on 03/09, according to the origami project site. there's also a promo video, which i'll try to upload here, which from what i've been able to gather is a year old. anyways, this is exciting too.

3. the nintendo revolution / ps3

i for one am far more excited about the nintendo revolution than the ps3 because of the controller. the new controller looks like a remote, and how it is moved corresponds with the game on the screen. this means if you're playing a sword-fighting game, then you move the controller accordingly, to parry and slash and en garde! your way through the fight. and you can also connect an analog controller and play 'nunchuku' style. anyways, there's a better synopsis of it at this 1up.com article. the revoultion is slotted to be released in the states around Thanksgiving.

4. a "true" video iPod?

there's speculation that soon Apple will release what is being called a "true" video iPod. newest news from macrumors.com here. supposedly it will have a four-inch screen, and Apple may be working a deal for entire movies to be downloaded. some think this may be released as early as April.

there's other stuff out there, too, but this is the stuff i'm excited about.